quare piece of cloth, but its colour is green,
and on it is the Harp of Ireland and inscribed in a wreath are
the words: 'Eire go brath,' once bright and clear, but now faded
and obliterated almost beyond recognition. That is the flag the
Irish Guards obtained when they received information that they
were for the Front, and from the moment they set foot on foreign
soil that treasured emblem of Irish nationality has been
displayed at the head of the battalion, the pride and admiration
of the regiment."

So writes Corporal Michael O'Mara of the Irish Guards. The first
occasion upon which the flag was produced was when the Marne was
crossed, and on September 9th the Irish Guards had to advance for
miles across rather open country, swept by shot and shell, to dislodge
the Germans from a commanding position south of the Aisne.

The Irish as soldiers have two qualities which, though widely
different in nature, are really each the concomitant of the other. The
first is imperturbability, springing from indifference to danger, of
which the Retreat from Mons supplied some choice examples, as I have
recorded. This attribute is displayed while they are waiting for the
shock of an advancing attack, or for the command to launch themselves
upon a foe shooting at them from behind entrenchments. The clash comes
or the order to charge is given; and then it is that, showing the
other quality, they give vent to the fire and force of their
passionate temperament, which, as often as not, impels them to attempt
strokes more daring and rash than the occasion quite demands.

In the course of the advance between the Marne and the Aisne on
September 9th the changeful fortunes of the conflict seemed to make
the final issue doubtful. The line of the advance of the Irish Guards
was a hill upon which the Germans were strongly posted with several
machine-guns, each pouring forth a terrible stream of 600 bullets a
minute. Men were dropping on all sides. Then it was that the towering
form of an Irish Guardsman was seen running well on in front of the
first line flourishing the green flag, which he had tied round the
barrel of his rifle, and shouting "Ireland for Ever." The men roared
at the sight. On they swept, with redoubled speed, after the darling
flag, in one of their furious, overmastering Irish charges, made all
the more terrible by their vengeful yells. A thunderstorm was raging
at the time. The gleam on their